Last week marked another year older for me. And when I say week, I mean it. When we were younger my step-mother started something we in our family call “birthday week”. You are celebrated the whole week long leading up to your birthday. There is nothing really special about it except that the birthday person is given deference. Basically you are just made to feel special all week long which for those of us with birthdays around the holidays, it’s extra special!
Turning 32 didn’t even faze me and I’ve come to realize that my 30’s just might be my favorite decade. Kinda like pulling on your favorite jeans, I feel like my 30’s have me in that spot of life. Worn-in, comfortable in my own skin, cozy. And now that Elizabeth is here, life just seems a bit sweeter, even if it means my days of being footloose and fancy free are over (for the time being.)
Last year I started my own little tradition of making my own birthday cake. I don’t really like to bake, especially when neither Alex nor I really want to eat an entire cake, but I’ve decided that on birthdays I will go all out. And for our MN family celebration I spent the day making this cake and it was quite delicious!
Almost every year of our marriage we have spent Thanksgiving in Wisconsin with my family. This year we gathered with my Aunt and Uncle, cousins, and siblings to devour our share of turkey and other Thanksgiving delicacies, like raspberry jello. So delicious! And of course, to top it off Elizabeth got to meet her second cousin Graham who is just 4 months younger than her. She looks huge in comparison:) Having babies again in the midst of our family is so much fun!
The rest of our time in WI was spent hanging out with family. My little brother was back from college and my nephews and niece are always fun to be with. Alex helped Jack build this gigantic robot that actually walked! And Elizabeth had fun playing with Uncle Matt.
Fun fact, my sister and I have the same birthday. I was born on her 8th birthday and often have overshadowed the day; my 16th fell on her golden birthday, etc. But this year, I was happy to hand over the shadow. Since I let you know how old I turned, add 8 and you’ll know it was a BIG birthday for her! We celebrated by heading out to dinner with my siblings, my sister-in-law, and dad and step-mom. We are never a quiet crew while we were out…we had a LOT of fun together and even made my little brother squirm a bit. He just headed off to college this year!
All in all it was a great Thanksgiving…it goes without saying that we have MUCH to be thankful for this year! A house, clothes on our back, money in the bank, food to eat, a daughter, each other, good health, saving faith…basics are all met and for us, that’s more than enough!
Hoping you and yours had a great Thanksgiving…
now I’m off to finish putting up the Christmas decorations!
Happy belated birthday. Your cake looks delicious!
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